UK - Universal Event Production (UEP) supplied full technical production - sound, lighting and video - to the Nike Phenomenal House, a one week only pop-up experience to celebrate football, street culture and style, music and fashion staged at the Old Sorting Office just off London's New Oxford Street.

UEP was working for brand and live communication specialist XYZ. The Tring, Hertfordshire based company has worked on many different Nike events in recent years and also with Will Mould, MD of XYZ. However this was the first time they had worked in the Old Sorting Office space which is a regular venue for offsite London Fashion Week shows and other events suiting its semi-industrial and slightly edgy ambience.

The lighting design for the Nike Phenomenal was developed by UEP's James Fickling and Mike Lindsay to encompass an eclectic collection of exhibition and interactive areas

USA - KVLA Television in Huntington Beach, California, a TV station that broadcasts to the large Vietnamese speaking community in Southern California, has recently added two new studios and is using LED strip lighting from Elation Professional to colour the sets.

Christian Choi of Emergent Entertainment Group was production and lighting designer, as well as fabricator for the project, and explains that the client initially sought to create three areas within two studios - a segregated news area, two talk shows and a home shopping set (which was eventually postponed).

Choi came up with rendering ideas for both the news and talk show sets, something he says he enjoys doing in order to get everyone's creative juices flowing. "Since the building was nothing more than a warehouse with attached office space, basically a shell, it was a bit difficult for everyone to picture what

Spain - Lighting designer Edu Valverde and Madrid-based AV group Geometrica Studio have created an urban-inspired lighting design using the exact beams of the Clay Paky Sharpy for a show celebrating Spanish jewellery brand Aristocrazy at this year's Mercedes Benz Fashion Week (MBFW) Madrid.

Taking inspiration from the 80s cult classic film Blade Runner, the design comprised of a clever mix of architectural, video mapped and lighting elements that combined to create an urban set reminiscent of the gritty architecture featured in the science-fiction blockbuster.

"The lighting acted as the unifying core between the audience and the set," explains Valverde. "The idea was that with the long reach of the Sharpy beams the nocturnal, urban mood of the show would be extended out from the set and into the audience to create a really immersive atmosphere."

Va

UK - Rosco has launched a line of four new fog machines designed to meet the demands of a wide variety of applications, from theatrical productions and film sets to photo shoots and training exercises.

The Mini-V is easy to use as well as being the most affordable and compact machine in the series. The Vapour is the workhorse of the new line with features and performance suited to the most demanding professional environments. Designed specifically to fill large venues and outdoor spaces with dense fog and smoke, the Vapour Plus produces a massive amount of fog in a short time. The V-Hazer is a rock solid, quiet and reliable haze generator.

Rosco's Vapour Series has been carefully engineered to provide professional quality fog and haze while also offering ease of use, reliable performance, and simple maintenance. The Vapour, Vapour Plus, and V-Hazer models have been designed wi

Chile - W-DMX by Wireless Solution Sweden is heating up the airwaves in Chile on Channel 13, one of the most prestigious television stations in the country. W-DMX distributor Iluminacion Profesional Valook SA, based in Santiago, is currently using W-DMX for the station's productions to great success and is looking to expand the use and knowledge of the product through educational seminars.

Francisco Yanez Valdivia, trainer & product manager for Valook explains, "Channel 13 works with a very high standard of quality. At present they use the W-DMX F-2 model linked with some integrated receivers on the fixtures and R512 receiver. I had the opportunity to talk with one of the lighting technicians and he said that this wireless system is very reliable and stable."

In an interview with Channel 13 lighting designer Luis Quiroz said of W-DMX, "With W-DMX I solve timing

Germany - Astera LED Technology has released the AsteraApp for free on the Google Play Store. The AsteraApp can be downloaded and then installed on any Bluetooth-enabled Android device (optimized for Android phones and 7" tablets).

Users should link their Android device to an AsteraBox to initiate control. Acting as the middleman, the AsteraBox receives commands from the app (using Bluetooth), and these commands are processed inside the AsteraBox, then sent to all Astera lights within a 300m range.

With the AsteraApp, users can easily send programmes and effects to lights, create programmes and customize effects, store these programmes for quick use at an event, change the colours, brightness, speed, and fade of programs, target individual lights or groups of lights, as well as many other advanced features for event lighting professionals.

Simon Canins, R&D director at

USA - Production Resource Group has announced that Jeremiah J Harris, chairman and CEO, has promoted Stephan Paridaen to the role of president and chief operating officer. Paridaen has served as PRG's chief executive officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa since 2009.

In his new role, Paridaen will apply his management expertise and services to supervising the global operations of the company, the delivery of new technologies and services offerings, and the further development of PRG's efforts in the corporate and global special events markets.

"Along with attracting world-class talent to the company, one of my top priorities is recognizing and developing PRG's existing leadership team," said Harris. "Stephan has demonstrated exceptional operational leadership in Europe. He has earned the respect of the entire PRG team, our customers and our partners. This

Belarus - Clay Paky's multi-zone A.leda B-EYE was the star of the show at the recent Belarusian TV Awards beaming complex aerial effects as part of a lighting design by Kirell Zelenko.

TV LD Zelenko worked with assistant lighting designer Ilya Piatrouski of Minsk-based production house Blackout Studios to design a rich, glittering light show for the popular annual event - now in its tenth year - which celebrates the best in Belarusian television.

"We needed to create a balanced design that actually enriched the video mapped elements occurring on stage," explains Piatrouski. "The lighting needed to be effects based as well as practical to create the sumptuous, detailed look we were after."

Zelenko and Piatrouski specified a host of Clay Paky fixtures for the ceremony, including 24 x A.leda B-EYE K20, 12 x A.leda Wash K10, 24 x Sharpy, 20 x Sharpy Wash 330

USA - When two of music's long established bands prepared to embark on their 38-city North American co-headlining tour, the design teams behind Journey and Steve Miller Band had to find the best way to support the style of each group. With the challenge of sharing the same rig, lighting designer Kevin 'Deuce' Christopher had to decide which automated luminaires would provide the most flexibility as the main lighting instruments for both show designs. Working with Tour Tech East, he chose 38 VL3500 Wash and 25 VL3000 Spot luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite to be the lighting backbone for the complete tour.

"In the design for the Journey tour, we have a large video wall that we treat as a surface for I-MAG, so I knew we needed automated lighting that could punch through the intensity of the video wall," began Christopher. "During the design process, we looked at seve

USA - One hundred and forty Robe Pointes were at the core of the production lighting design for the 2014 Essence Festival in New Orleans, which was created by Matt Foucheux of Solomon Group, production designers and equipment suppliers for the Main Stage in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Musical acts included Prince, Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott.

The Solomon Group has worked for the vibrant and diverse "party with a purpose" - which started in 1995 - for the last three years, and for the last two has also been responsible for producing the 60,000 capacity Main Stage at the four day event.

This was the first time that Foucheux and Solomon Group have used Pointes and actually the first time they have ever worked with Robe products. The fixtures were supplied by VER, and it underlined a real confidence in the brand and its reputation to commit to so many Poin

USA - A virtual plethora of Elation Professional lighting and video gear was used this year to light up Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas, North America's largest dance music festival. Produced by Insomniac Events and held the weekend of 20-22 June at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, more than 400,000 attendees danced and raved their way to the latest EDM beats in front of eight stages, seven of which featured Elation products.

EDC is a spectacular scene, a multi-sensory testament to the popularity of electronic dance music with some of the biggest names in the genre performing, including Avicii, Diplo, Afrojack, Carl Cox and Tiesto, many helicoptered in from the Vegas strip 20 minutes away to play to tens of thousands at each stage. Ferris wheels, fireworks, glowing sculptures, desert heat and beams of pulsating light all make up the EDC Las Vegas experience.

Lighting s

Italy - From 20 to 22 June, the Sforza Castle in Milan was transformed into a stage for a magical journey of lights and music that took the audience back in time from the Milan of today to 1906, during the Belle Époque, when the world exposition was first held in the city. "The project not only enhanced the Sforza Castle and its precious art collections, but it also linked the monument with Expo 2015," said Milan city councillor for culture, Filippo Del Corno.

All the façades of the Rocchetta courtyard were animated with images from the Achille Bertarelli print collection, which is kept in the castle itself and tells us about Milanese life and culture in the early 20th century.

The Castello di Carta (Paper Castle) project was curated by Sebastiano Romano and Studio Comunicazione & Immagine di Mariella Di Rao. It was promoted by the Milan City Council Departme

Singapore - Robe Lighting s.r.o has confirmed Lighting & Sound Distribution (LSD) as its exclusive distributor in Singapore as of 1 August 2014.

This is part of Robe's medium term expansion strategy in the region and follows the launch of a new Asia Pacific office - also in Singapore - in January this year, which was set up in response to the brand's growing business.

Robe's relationship with LSD - one of Singapore's most proactive and successful sales and installation operations - actually dates back to 2002 when LSD first started selling and specifying Robe products, a situation that has developed steadily over the years.

LSD's general manager Brenda Keung comments, "Naturally we are excited to be appointed as Robe's exclusive distributor in Singapore, which will consolidate our existing business model and enable us to work even closer with Robe.

"We really loo

UK - As the sun set over Sonisphere festival 2014's opening day at Knebworth, The Prodigy walked on stage to sirens, screams and the bright blasting lights of 165 Showline SL Nitro 510 and 510C LED strobes, specified by the group's longstanding lighting designer and creative director of HSL Andy Hurst.

After a three-year hiatus, the Sonisphere festival came back with a bang, seeing The Prodigy perform alongside a stellar line up of heavy metal and rock giants including Metallica and Iron Maiden.

Hurst wanted to create a 'mind blowing' lighting design that would be a spectacular end to day one, and he didn't disappoint. Locked together by the luminaires' unique quick-connect system, which allows SL Nitro 510 and 510C units to connect together easily top-to-bottom and side-by-side, Hurst rigged the 84 SL Nitro 510 and 72 510C strobes in mixed groups of 10. His design saw them bl

UK - Leisuretec Distribution has announced their new trade partnership with SGM, the Danish manufacturer of LED lighting products, effective August 2014.

Bedfordshire-based Leisuretec will become a key partner to SGM as a trade only distributor, promoting and marketing their range of products, including the SixPack and award-winning G-Spot.

Leisuretec managing director, Cliff Dounting comments, "I'm very pleased that our strategy to grow our lighting portfolio is taking another very positive step forward. We are very proud to be partnering with SGM and to have the opportunity to provide our customers with some amazing products. The history of the brand coupled with the pedigree of the owner is a great recipe for success.

"A key part of Leisuretec's continued growth and success over the past few years has been the prudent partnering with new suppliers, who complemen

USA - The Summer Concert Series has launched on NBC's The Today Show and Clay Paky's A.leda B-EYE K20 LED-based moving lights are being deployed on the live music segments, which air at least once a week on the morning show.

The concert series is a popular feature on The Today Show every Friday from late spring through the summer; performances are sometimes staged during the week, as well. The concerts launched with Mariah Carey and have showcased Tim McGraw, Cher Lloyd, Rascal Flatts, Sara Bareilles, Train, Little Mix, Fallout Boy and Phillip Phillips.

The night prior to a concert a mobile stage rolls onto Rockefeller Plaza outside The Today Show's picture windows. Lighting is rigged and programmed overnight so a rehearsal can be scheduled for 6:30 am. The concert begins with the first of a three-song set around 8:25 am; two more songs wrap up the show fr

USA - Superhero and comic book lovers of all sorts met June 5-8 at Phoenix Comicon, a comic book and multigenre entertainment convention held annually in Phoenix, Arizona. Event production company Endless Entertainment used a bevy of Elation equipment to light the general session room, hotel ballrooms and other rooms for parties, interactive events, contests and after-hours events.

Phoenix Comicon, which takes place at the Phoenix Convention Center, started as more of a comic book and science fiction/fantasy convention but has expanded over the years to include a larger range of pop culture elements with many events taking place at downtown hotels. The event is growing each year with the 2014 convention setting an attendance record.

Endless Entertainment was Phoenix Comicon's partner in all audiovisual and entertainment services for the entire event with Endless Entertainment'

USA - Production Design Associates lit up the Piccolo Spoleto Festival's kick-off event in Charleston, South Carolina, with Robe's Robin 300 LEDWash fixtures.

The Sunset Serenade, held annually on the steps of the United States Custom House, is a free outdoor concert featuring the Charleston Symphony Orchestra with more than 5,000 attending, marking the start of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival.

The festival, sponsored locally in conjunction with Spoleto Festival USA, featured about 700 performing, literary and visual arts events over the course of 17 days. Often referred to as America's premier performing arts festival, Piccolo Spoleto was founded in 1979 by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs. Their goal is to provide a rich dynamic cultural experience to all, as well as give local and regional artists the opportunity to showcase their talents.

When PDA was once

Russia - Art-Festival, a special events company in Russia, chose to use 180 ETC Source Four fixtures with attached Source Four Dimmers on a recent series of high end fashion shows in St Petersburg.

Art-Festival wanted the best light to accentuate the work of the Russian and international fashion designers. "We looked at all leading international fashion shows for direction," says Armin Kloss, ETC's regional sales manager for Eastern Europe. "After extensively testing modern professional lighting sources, we opted for a classic solution. Our tungsten Source Four fixtures delivered great results during the tests, while LED fixtures from other manufacturers weren't bright enough and not up to the level of the conventional Source Fours."

Due to the large number of fixtures clustered close together on the lighting rigs, Art-Festival wanted a flexible solution th

USA - ETC has acquired the Vortek rigging division of Daktronics in a move which will see all Vortek rigging products will be integrated into ETC's rigging portfolio. Operations will be consolidated with ETC's primary manufacturing locations in Wisconsin by the end of the year.

Vortek products are currently sold worldwide, and ETC intends to expand that sales effort; the company's complete range of rigging products is planned to be available in Europe by next year.

The transition of Vortek into the ETC Rigging family of products will double ETC's current offerings of stage machinery. They will be able to provide customers with a wide variety of custom engineered heavy lift, high lift and high speed rigging solutions, which include orchestra shell, grand drape and scoreboard lifts, along with synchronised acoustic panels and motorised packaged hoists.

"On the heels of a

Belgium - Tomorrowland is a renowned electronic music festival held in Belgium and this year's event, which took place in the town of Boom, marked its tenth anniversary. Now recognised as one of the most notable global music festivals, Tomorrowland was held over two weekends in July, with MTV promising a two hour long feature and a documentary surrounding the event's anniversary.

Therefore, with the eyes of millions around the world watching, it was vital that the event's organisers, the Creative Factory, pulled off a festival to remember that was technically seamless both on- and back-stage. Getting in touch with Luc Buytaert at AVL Lighting, an order was placed for 10 ELC Buddy nodes.

Luc said, "Patrick Bellens and David Smeets at the Creative Factory were keen to have one interface connected to each console on the DMX output at the festival. This way they would be guar

Games Over - The 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games formally closed with a much-lauded spectacular ceremony at Hampden Park. Kylie Minogue, Lulu, Deacon Blue and more than 2,000 performers brought the curtain down on what has been praised as the "best Games ever". The closing ceremony marked the end of an almost seven-year journey for Glasgow that began on 9 November 2007 when the city was awarded the Games. The focus will now begin to turn to what legacy the sporting extravaganza has left behind and whether it was worth the time, effort and huge amount of public money spent.

Fringe News - Thousands of performers from across the world are in Edinburgh for the start of the world's biggest arts festival. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe will see more than 3,000 shows staged across almost 300 venues. Several new venues will feature in the August extravaganza, to accommod

UK - White Light reports that more than 1,000 Core Lighting ColourPoint units have been sold since the product's initial launch. The company has experienced increased demand in recent months as production companies look for flexible lighting alternatives for events.

Most recently, Liverpool-based technical production company Adlib invested in 40 new ColourPoint fixtures, for use on the company's variety of events projects.

White Light's Jonathan Haynes worked with Adlib's Dave Platt to discuss Adlib's requirements and ensure that they could try out the fixtures before a decision was made. "We were looking for new technology that would look good and give us flexibility for our events," said Platt. "After seeing the ColourPoints in action, we placed an order with White Light."

Haynes explains the product's popularity, "Especially for event professional

Denmark - Elation Professional EU has announced the hiring of Allan Bagger as the company's new sales representative for Denmark. As one of the founders of Music Group Denmark, a supplier of lighting and sound equipment that he helped build up since 2011, Allan comes to the new position at Elation with extensive experience and knowledge of the Danish lighting market.

Allan, who started in the new position on 1 August working from an office in Denmark's second largest city, Aarhus, is tasked with support and training of Elation's Danish customers, as well as growing Elation's presence in the rental, theater, stage and installation segments.

Allan commented on the new position, "I have worked with Elation products as the Danish distribution partner since 2011, so I know the brand well. Here in Denmark, it's primarily about getting the industry to know the Elation brand and

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